The Human Condition

Chapter 9: Teardrops

"I'm tripping on the edge

High as a kite, I'm never coming downAnd if you hear me, guess you know how it feelsTo be aloneSo how'd we get this stressed outParanoidEverything is going darkNothing makes me sadder than my head"~ Teardrops by Bring Me The Horizon

Vanny clutched her head in agony, roaring all she could hear. That stupid boy had ruined everything earlier and now her master was mad at her! She was being punished and she deserved it. How could she have let one little child get away from her?

In her defense though, the little shit was a fighter, and it didn't seem to matter that he was half-starved. Her broken nose and the hole in her hand could attest to that. She could feel said hole throb in time with her heart, adding more misery on top of the hell she was experiencing.

He wasn't happy.

Oh no, he wasn't happy at all.

Whimpering, Vanny writhed on the ground with no relief. Begging would get her nowhere, but she tried anyway, "Please!! Please I'll get him! I'll get him! I promise! He'll be yours!"

As expected, the pain doubled and she let out a shrill scream, spit flying and fingers turning to claws against her skull. She'd long since abandoned her mask, thrown carelessly aside and completely forgotten. Tufts of blonde hair came away in her hands as she ripped at her head and blood trailed down from her wounded hand.

The pain reached a crescendo before easing enough for her to pry her hands away and crawl toward the only light in the room. A monitor had been set up before she'd even chosen this place and its presence made her job infinitely easier. She could do so much from it without anyone the wiser, anyone except him.

He saw everything.

Now was no different.

The monitor illuminated the room in a loud purple glow that flickered at odd intervals. A figure filled the screen, a frozen smile stretching across its face. Smiles were meant to be expressions of happiness, of joy. The figure's smile was anything but.

Malice seeped from the monitor as the rabbit figure grinned down at her.

Desperately gripping the edge of the desk to pull herself up, Vanny shook with pain and effort. A raspy voice bounced around in her head as her vision glitched when she looked at the monitor, "Why should I give you another chance? You've failed me once already. You've disappointed me Vanny. And I don't tolerate disappointments."

Frantically scrabbling at the sides of the monitors, Vanny sobbed harder, pain temporarily forgotten. He couldn't just abandon her! She'd done everything he'd asked, perfectly every time. Aside from this one tonight.

Whining, high and reedy, the woman begged, "No! No! Please, I can do it! I can bring you the boy! He won't escape agai—" A loud burst of static and pain silenced her.

The volume of the figure's voice didn't change, still low and soft, but his tone raised the hair on the back of her neck. He sounded furious.

"Be. Quiet. Begging does nothing. You should know this by now Vanny."

Staring at the heavily glitched figure with big, tear-filled eyes, Vanny didn't dare make a peep. Her master told her to be silent and she wouldn't be bringing more pain upon herself by disobeying him again. She'd angered him enough already.

She had to show him she could be good.

The silence that stretched between them was heavy and oppressive. But Vanny would not break! She would not! She was good. She could follow orders. The pain had eased more, and she could sit up without having to curl in on herself.